《就是这样》：歌王杰克逊最后的精彩“战栗”
媒体多年来对迈克尔•杰克逊(Michael Jackson)的消息疯狂追捧，而他在影片《就是这样》(This Is It)中依然鲜活的形象不由让人亦悲亦喜──或许也谈不上喜，这要取决于对这位已故流行音乐之王的态度。《就是这样》精彩地记录了杰克逊为再也不可能上演的演唱会排练的情形。
After all the media madness about Michael Jackson over all the years and decades, it comes as bittersweet news -- though maybe not sweet, depending on one's attitude toward the late King of Pop -- that he lives vividly in 'This Is It,' a spectacular record of rehearsals for a show that wasn't to be.
当然，奥特加(Kenny Ortega)导演的这部影片不止于此。它是剧组成员对杰克逊的感情的见证和表达，他们中的许多人在孩提时代就崇拜杰克逊。这部电影还是一部集锦之作，将现场视频与向好莱坞致敬的动人的黑白电影片断结合在一起──影片《吉尔达》(Gilda)中的丽塔•海华斯(Rita Hayworth)将手套抛给杰克逊，而亨佛莱•鲍嘉(Humphrey Bogart)怒视着他，或抱着冲锋枪扫射，这一幕配着杰克逊的经典歌曲《犯罪高手》(Smooth Criminal)。这部影片更像是专业级制作的光影幻灯（考虑到影片完成之迅速，其制作堪称卓越），令人信服地凸显了杰克逊仍然能够汲取的能量，那是来自支撑他形销骨立的身体的力量。
Kenny Ortega's film is more than that, of course. It's a series of testimonials and expressions of love from cast members, many of whom had idolized Michael when they were kids. It's a pastiche that pulls together live footage and pieces of a marvelous black-and-white homage to Hollywood that was to be played against 'Smooth Criminal' in the show -- the Rita Hayworth of 'Gilda' tossing Michael her glove, Humphrey Bogart scowling at him or firing a tommy gun. And it's an expertly packaged -- brilliantly packaged, considering how quickly the job was done -- phantasmagoria that emphasizes, quite convincingly, the energy that Michael could still draw from whatever was fueling his wraith-thin body.
在我们所见在绝大多数片断中，杰克逊与他身边那些卓越的专业人士一样，已经熟知所有动作并跳得精彩无比。（许多动作简直就是深深地印在他的身体里和饱经痛苦的灵魂之中。）不过，《就是这样》（演唱会平淡的主题竟然如此凝练贴切，这种感觉真是奇特）还是让我们对杰克逊在排练过程中做出的努力有了些许了解。
In most of the footage we see, the star, like the superb professionals around him, already knows all his moves and does them dazzlingly. (Many of those moves must have been as deeply imprinted in his muscles as they were in his tortured psyche.) Nevertheless, 'This Is It' -- how eerie that the show's bland title could become so tersely apt -- gives us a few glimpses of Michael Jackson's struggles during the rehearsal process.
他有一次停下来，犹疑地说，我听的时候就像耳朵被人打了一拳。这更多的是请求而非抱怨，解决办法也不过是调低了他的耳机音量。还有一次，他也是以一种近乎哀伤的语气要求说，我想保护嗓子，请理解。歌手在排练时几乎都会保护嗓子，因此他的请求得到了大家的同情。不过还是给人一种强烈的感觉：这是一个身处感官刺激中心地带的脆弱的人，试图保留自己仅剩的东西。
He stops at one point to say, haltingly, 'What I'm trying to hear is like a fist in my ear.' It's more of a plea than a complaint, and the problem is resolved simply by reducing the volume in his earpiece. At another point he asks, in a tone that also verges on plaintiveness, 'I'm trying to conserve my voice. Please understand.' Singers almost always conserve their voice during rehearsals, so his plea falls on sympathetic ears. Still, there's a strong sense of a fragile man at the center of sensory pummeling, trying to conserve what's left of himself.
